Method and Apparatus to Encourage Development of Long Term Recollections of Given Episodes

ABSTRACT

These teachings are applicable for use with an individual who faces problems with respect to forming new long term memories. Generally speaking, pursuant to these various embodiments, one automatically captures (101) a record of experiential content to which the individual is exposed during a given episode and then automatically associates (102) that record of experiential content with metadata that characterizes the given episode. This record of experiential content is then automatically used (103) to re-expose the individual to at least portions of the given episode to thereby encourage development of a long term recollection of at least a portion of the given episode. These teachings will accommodate a variety of experiential content modalities including both audio content and visual content.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/845,700,Filed Dec. 18, 2017, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ENCOURAGEDEVELOPMENT OF LONG TERM RECOLLECTIONS OF GIVEN EPISODES, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/007,710, Filed Jan.27, 2016 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ENCOURAGE DEVELOPMENT OF LONGTERM RECOLLECTIONS OF GIVEN EPISODES, which application is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/049,789, Filed Mar.17, 2008, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ENCOURAGE DEVELOPMENT OF LONGTERM RECOLLECTIONS OF GIVEN EPISODES, which application claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional application No. 60/895,478, filed Mar. 18,2007, both of which are incorporated by reference in its entiretyherein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the encouragement of long termrecollections and more particularly to the at least partially automatedencouragement of long term recollections.

BACKGROUND

Human memory is often viewed as comprising both short term memory andlong term memory. Short term memory refers to that which an individualcan recall within a few seconds to a few minutes of being exposed to agiven experience. This kind of memory tends to degrade quickly. Longterm memory, on the other hand, refers to that which an individual canrecall for a much longer period of time following the aforementionedexposure; this can be hours, days, or years.

These are not merely semantically-based categorizations. Short-termmemory is presently viewed as being supported by transient patterns ofneuronal communication that are dependent on regions of the frontal lobe(and in particular the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and the parietallobe. Long-term memories, on the other hand, are presently viewed asbeing maintained by more stable and permanent changes in neuralconnections that are widely spread throughout the human brain.

The ability to develop new long term memories can become impaired forany number of reasons. Various illnesses can have this effect as canother physical impairments of various kinds. Similar impairment canoccur with individuals who experience considerable cognitive loading,emotional distress, and so forth. In some cases the problem can berelatively fully developed almost immediately and in other cases candevelop gradually over an extended period of time. In any event, aninability to reliably develop new long term memories can be highlyproblematic for a given individual as well as those with whom thatindividual interacts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above needs are at least partially met through provision of themethod and apparatus to encourage development of long term recollectionsof given episodes described in the following detailed description,particularly when studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 comprises a block diagram as configured in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 comprises a block diagram as configured in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 comprises a block diagram as configured in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 comprises a block diagram as configured in accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 8 comprises a flow diagram as configured in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioningof some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative toother elements to help to improve understanding of various embodimentsof the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements thatare useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are oftennot depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of thesevarious embodiments of the present invention. It will further beappreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described ordepicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in theart will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence isnot actually required. It will also be understood that the terms andexpressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as isaccorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in thetechnical field as set forth above except where different specificmeanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

These teachings are applicable for use with an individual who facesproblems with respect to forming new long term memories (which is alsooften ironically referred to as a short term memory problem). Generallyspeaking, pursuant to these various embodiments, one automaticallycaptures a record of experiential content to which the individual isexposed during a given episode and then automatically associates thatrecord of experiential content with metadata that characterizes thegiven episode. This record of experiential content is then automaticallyused to re-expose the individual to at least portions of the givenepisode to thereby encourage development of a long term recollection ofat least a portion of the given episode. These teachings willaccommodate a variety of experiential content modalities including bothaudio content and visual content.

By one approach, automatically associating the record of experientialcontent with metadata can comprise automatically associating the recordof experiential content with calendar information as pertains to theindividual. By one approach, the aforementioned re-exposure of theindividual to portions of the given episode can occur within arelatively short period of time following a conclusion of that episode.

The particular portions of the given episode to which the individual isso re-exposed can vary with respect to various criteria of interest.This can include information regarding available time, a degree ofsimilarity or dissimilarity as between various portions of the givenepisode and previous episodes and/or anticipated future episodes. Suchcriteria can also influence whether, as well as how, to re-expose theindividual at all to some or all of the record of experiential content.Numerous other possibilities exist in these regards as well.

So configured, those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciatethat these teachings are readily implemented in ways that leveragecommonly available technology and methodologies. It will further beappreciated that these teachings are readily scaled and can accommodatea range of application settings. Accordingly, these teachings aresuitable for use with a range of degrees of memory impairment

These and other benefits may become clearer upon making a thoroughreview and study of the following detailed description. Referring now tothe drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, an illustrative process thatis compatible with many of these teachings will now be presented.

This process 100 provides for automatically capturing 101 a record ofexperiential content to which a given individual is exposed during agiven episode. This can comprise a record of, for example, audiocontent, visual content (including both still images and video content),and so forth) and can be as rich, or sparse, as desired. By oneapproach, for example, a still image in the vicinity of the individualcan be captured on a periodic basis. This might comprise, for example,capturing a digital photograph every X seconds or every Y minutes. Byanother approach, and still by way of example, part or all of thecapturing process can be triggered by non-temporal factors. These mightinclude, for example, certain ambient volume levels, voice recognitionand/or speaker recognition-based triggers, location-based triggers, andso forth.

By one approach, all of the captured images can correspond to a fixedpoint of view. For example, the image capture device might be mounted ina fixed manner on the individual's wheelchair. By another approach, theimage capture device can be provided with an ability to alter (eitherautomatically or under remote control) its directionality. The latterwould permit, for example, the image capture device to automaticallydirect itself in order to capture images in a direction from whichsounds are emanating. It will also be understood that a plurality ofimage capture devices and/or audio recorders can be employed as desired.

By one approach, this automated capture of experiential content cancomprise an ongoing activity. By another approach, if desired, thisactivity can be scheduled to coincide with the given episode itself. Forexample, the individual's calendar may include this episode as ascheduled event and this capturing step can occur as an automatedconsequence of that scheduling.

This process 100 then provides for automatically associating 102 thisrecord of experiential content with metadata that characterizes thegiven episode. By one approach, for example, the captured content can besynchronized to a running time/date code. This, in turn, would permit aplayback of various modalities of captured content, such as video andaudio, in synchronicity with one another. This time/date code could alsobe used in various ways to facilitate other steps as are presentedbelow.

There are numerous other examples of metadata than can be usefullyconsidered in this context. By one approach, this metadata can includelocation information such as global positioning system (GPS)-derivedinformation or beacon-based location information as may be available incertain application settings. By another approach, if desired, thismetadata can comprise data and readings as provided, for example, bymedical sensory devices as are attached to the individual. Theinformation provided by such device readings can include, but is notlimited to, heart rates, blood pressure, perspiration, blood sugarlevels, and so forth. Such information can be potentially helpful in avariety of application settings, either in support of the purposes ofthese teachings or for other separate and discrete purposes.

By one approach, this step of automatically associating the record ofexperiential content with metadata can comprise, at least in part,automatically accessing a calendar for the individual and usinginformation in the calendar as the metadata. An example in this regardmight comprise, for example, noting that the individual is scheduled fora doctor's appointment from 3 PM to 4 PM and automatically taggingcontent in the record as was captured during that period of time ascorresponding to an episode at this particular doctor's offices.

This process 100 then provides for automatically using 103 the record ofexperiential content to re-expose the individual to at least portions ofthe given episode to thereby encourage development of a long termrecollection of at least a portion of the given episode. This couldcomprise, if desired, re-exposing the individual to the complete recordas pertains to this given episode. By another approach, however, thiscould comprise automatically abridging the record of experientialcontent that is to be re-exposed to the individual by, at least in part,reducing a re-exposure to redundant experiential content. As one simpleexample in this regard, this might comprise automatically comparing thecontent of a collection of still images as comprise a part of the recordas pertains to a given episode and discarding redundant images that donot appear to contribute any additional content over and above anotherimage that is to be re-exposed to the individual.

As another example in this regard, at least portions of the record for agiven episode can be automatically compared to the record for previouslyrecorded episodes. In this case, and again, purely (or largely)redundant images can be pared down to a fewer representative number tobe re-exposed to the individual. This approach can be particularlyuseful when re-exposing the individual to the record comprises not onlyre-exposing the individual to a single episode (such as a particularvisit to the doctor's office) but to a plurality of similar, relatedepisodes (such as each of this individual's last three visits to thedoctor's office).

By one approach, this step of automatically re-exposing the individualto such content can comprise, at least in part, re-exposing theindividual to at least portions of the given episode within a relativelyshort period of time following a conclusion of the given episode. Thismight comprise, for example, re-exposing the individual to this materialwithin, say, five minutes to one hour following the conclusion of thegiven episode.

By one approach, the foregoing can further optionally comprisedetermining an extent of re-exposing the individual to such contentwithin this relatively short period of time following the conclusion ofthe given episode. This, in turn, can comprise taking into accountfuture scheduled episodes (including, for example, future scheduledepisodes having at least a given amount of similarity to the givenepisode).

As one example in this regard, when the individual is scheduled to meetwith this same doctor two hours later, it may be appropriate to modulateand select the re-exposure content to be some relatively smaller amountof content (such as, for example, content that can likely be assimilatedwithin about fifteen minutes). As another example in this regard, whenthe individual is scheduled to be engaged in another completelydifferent episode within thirty minutes, and when it would require, forexample, one hour of time to properly assimilate the material, thisdetermined extent of re-exposure may be zero; that is, it may bedetermined to not effect re-exposing the individual to this content atthis time.

Such a determination may be based, for example, upon a determinationthat re-exposing the individual at this time, or with this content, orunder these circumstances, given the time and/or other resourcesavailable, will (or will not) likely sufficiently aid this individualwith respect to encouraging the development of their long termrecollection.

In the examples just provided, a determination was being made regardingwhether to re-expose the individual to the record as corresponds to agiven episode within a relatively short period of time following theconclusion of that episode. These teachings will also accommodate,however, making a determination regarding re-exposing the individual toat least portions of the given episode shortly prior to the individualbeing exposed to a subsequent similar episode. This can comprise, forexample, re-exposing the individual to at least portions of otherpreviously captured episodes as a function, at least in part, of adetermined degree of similarity between the given episode and thesubsequent similar episode.

Such a determination may be based upon the content of the record for thegiven episode and/or upon the metadata as corresponds thereto. Forexample, information regarding the subsequent similar episode (whichmight be gleaned, for example, from the aforementioned calendar for theindividual) can be compared against the metadata for the given episodeto determine a relative degree of similarity or dissimilarity. Such anapproach can serve well, for example, to aid in automaticallyidentifying past recorded content that may be useful in helping torefresh the recollections of the individual prior to their experiencing,in real life, the subsequent similar episode. By one approach, suchmetadata can be derived from the calendar of events that has beenexplicitly annotated with such metadata (by noting, for example, thepersons attending the event as identified by their name, their title,their relationship to the individual, their particular function as acaregiver, and so forth). By another approach, if desired and feasible,face recognition and speaker recognition techniques can be utilized toidentify persons, amend the metadata and/or comparte previously recordedcontent metadata to the content of the subsequent episode.

By one approach, this step of automatically using the record ofexperiential content to re-expose the individual as described cancomprise a passive activity for the individual. In this case, noparticular response from the individual is expected and/or required. Byanother approach, however, this step can comprise, in whole or in part,an active activity where responses from the individual are solicitedand/or required. In this case, if desired, this step can furtheroptionally comprise receiving feedback from the individual with respectto the record of experiential content to which the individual is beingre-exposed and then automatically evaluating the feedback, at least inpart, by comparison with the metadata.

When eliciting feedback on either a required or an optional basis, thisprocess 100 will also optionally accommodate, if desired, automaticallyeffecting (104) early termination of the re-exposure process when thefeedback indicates insufficient progress with respect to developing thelong term recollection. Such an action can potentially aid with respectto avoiding undue frustration on the part of the individual.

By one approach, this early termination decision can also utilizeadditional metadata such as medical sensory readings that were gainedduring the original content capture process and/or in the process ofre-exposing such content to the subject. For example, blood pressure,heart-rate, or perspiration sensory readings, or the combination of suchreadings, can indicate a state of undue frustration.

By another approach, if desired, a determination of a likelihood ofundue frustration on the part of the individual can also be derived frompersona model components of the subject. Such components, can includefor example, cognitive skills which indicate the subject's difficultiesin recognizing faces and/or voices (a condition or circumstance that mayor may not be related to the condition of impaired long term memoryretention for personal experiences). Another such included persona modelcomponent can comprise interests and incentives as pertain to thesubject. This can comprise, for example, understanding and taking intoaccount the subject's likely frustration if the subject has absolutelyno interest in certain calendar events, participating persons, and soforth.

Yet another potentially applicable persona model component is theaffective state, which also can indicate undue frustration as derived,for example, from either the aforementioned medical sensory readingvalues or by applying facial expression and/or voice analysis patternrecognition techniques. Finally, the personality traits component ofmany persona models can comprise yet another source of detecting and/orpredicting undue frustration. For example, the lack of the so-called“openness” personality trait is likely to correlate with an unduefrustration state when combined with forced attendance at a calendarevent that will unexpectedly expose the subject to an entirely newexperience.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-describedprocesses are readily enabled using any of a wide variety of availableand/or readily configured platforms, including partially or whollyprogrammable platforms as are known in the art or dedicated purposeplatforms as may be desired for some applications. Referring now to FIG.2, an illustrative approach to such a platform will now be provided.

In this illustrative (and generalized) example, the enabling apparatus200 comprises a processor 201 that operably couples to a memory 202, anend user interface 203, and an experience capture interface 204. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize and appreciate that such a processor201 can comprise a fixed-purpose hard-wired platform or can comprise apartially or wholly programmable platform. All of these architecturaloptions are well known and understood in the art and require no furtherdescription here.

The memory 202 can serve to store, temporarily or permanently, suchitems as the aforementioned record of experiential content for one ormore corresponding episodes, operating instructions to be employed bythe processor 201 when carrying out one or more of the described steps,the aforementioned metadata, and such items as the aforementionedcalendar for the given individual. Those skilled in the art willrecognize that this “memory” can comprise a single component if desiredor can comprise a distributed approach that includes a plurality ofdiscrete memory components. It will also be understood and appreciatedthat this memory may be partially or wholly local to the apparatus 200as suggested by the illustration or may be located remotely therefore(in which case FIG. 2 can be viewed as presenting a logical view of theapparatus as versus a physical view).

The end user interface 203 can vary with the needs of the individual aswell as the needs and/or opportunities presented by a given applicationsetting. Referring momentarily to FIG. 3, for example, this end userinterface 203 can comprise a user input 301 to permit the individual toprovide instructions, responses, or the like to the apparatus. This userinput 301 can comprise, for example, any of a keyboard, a keypad, acursor control device, a voice recognition-based input, and so forth.

This end user interface 203 can also comprise user output mechanismssuch as, by way of illustration, a display 302 and an audio transducer303. The display 302 can comprise any of a wide variety of displaysincluding but not limited to liquid crystal displays, cathode ray tubedisplays, light emitting diode-based displays, plasma-based displays,and so forth. The audio transducer 303, in turn, can similarly comprisea variety of enabling approaches including free space speakers,headphones, and so forth.

Referring again to FIG. 2 (and also momentarily to FIG. 4), theexperience capture interface 204 can serve to compatibly receive contentfrom a video capture platform 402 and an audio capture platform 401.There are numerous options for both such platforms as will be wellunderstood by those skilled in the art. Examples for the video captureplatform 402 would include, but are certainly not limited to, variousdigital methodologies for still and video content such as JPEG, MPEG 2,MPEG 4, and so forth. Similarly, the audio capture platform 401 cancomprise, by way of example, an MPG3-compatible platform but again,numerous options exist in this regard. These teachings could also beapplied in conjunction with non-digital methodologies but digitalcapture (and the ease by which such content can be digitally stored) isprobably preferable for a large number of application settings.

Referring now only to FIG. 2, this apparatus 200 can of course includeother components as may be useful in a given application setting. Twoillustrative examples are a clock 205 (such as a time of day clock) anda location determination unit 206 (such as a global positioning system(GPS)-based location determination unit as are known in the art). Suchcomponents, when optionally provided, can also be operably coupled tothe processor 201 to facilitate the actions and functionality of theprocessor 201 in accordance with these teachings.

By one approach, this processor 201 can be configured and arranged (forexample, via corresponding programming as will be well understood bythose skilled in the art) to carry out one or more of the steps,actions, and/or functionality as has been set forth herein. This cancomprise, for example, configuring the processor 201 to facilitate theautomatic capture (via the experience capture interface 204) of a recordof experiential content to which a given individual is exposed during agiven episode and the storage of that record in the memory 202,automatic association of the record of experiential content withmetadata that characterizes the given episode, and automatic use of thisrecord of experiential content to re-expose the individual, via the enduser interface 203, to at least portions of the given episode to therebyencourage development of a long term recollection of at least a portionof the given episode.

Those skilled in the art will recognize and understand that such anapparatus 200 may be comprised of a plurality of physically distinctelements as is suggested by the illustration shown in FIG. 2. It is alsopossible, however, to view this illustration as comprising a logicalview, in which case one or more of these elements can be enabled andrealized via a shared platform. It will also be understood that such ashared platform may comprise a wholly or at least partially programmableplatform as are known in the art.

For the sake of example a more detailed instantiation that accords withthese teachings will now be provided. Those skilled in the art willappreciate and recognize that the presentation of such details isintended to serve only as an illustrative example and is not intended toserve as an exhaustive or otherwise limiting example in this regard.

In this illustrative example, and referring now to FIG. 5 the enablingplatform comprises a mobile device 500 that comprise an executable codestorage 501 that contains the instructions necessary to perform thevarious functions described herein. These instructions are performed bya Central Processing Unit (CPU) 502 that works in tandem with a RandomAccess Memory (RAM) which serves as working storage area. In thisillustrative embodiment a non-volatile memory 504 stores a programmablecalendar 505 and multimedia content 506 that comprises the record of theepisode(s) experienced by the subject using the mobile device 500.

This logged multimedia content 506 (which includes at least a portion ofthe aforementioned metadata as well) is received and provided by aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) receiver 507, a Camera 508, a microphone509, and control buttons of a user interface 510 of the mobile device500. Visual portions of the multimedia content 506 can be played backusing a video player 511 and an image player 512 in conjunction with aLiquid Crystal Display (LCD) 513. Audio portions of the replayed contentas well as voices instructions for the mobile device user are replayedthrough a speaker and speaker driver 514 of the mobile device 500.

Those skilled in the art will recognize and understand that such amobile device 500 can be readily enabled in a highly portable andintegrated form factor that can be easily carried, if desired, on theperson. Such a mobile device 500 could also be readily configured in aform factor that is suitable to be attached, for example, to a personalconveyance mechanism such as a wheelchair, a gurney, a walker, and soforth. Other possibilities of course exist in this regard as well.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an illustrative example as pertains to aprocess 600 to capture the content of an episode experienced by thesubject and link the logged content to a current calendar event storedin the user's mobile device 500 will be described. In a first step 601,and via the aforementioned microphone 509, the mobile device 500 startsrecording everything that the user of the mobile device is likelyhearing. In a second step 602, the camera 508 of the mobile device 500takes a picture of what the user likely sees and the device 500 capturesthe JPEG code for this image in the non-volatile memory 504 of thedevice 500. At the same time, the mobile device 500 resets a timer for apicture taking sampling rate period, the termination of which isdetermined in a later step.

At step 603, the captured JPEG image is amended with (and/or otherlinked to or associated with) metadata information specifying acorresponding geographic location and date/time stamp of the capturedand logged image. The location stamp is derived by the device by readingthe latitude/longitude/elevation values of the mobile device's GPSreceiver 507. The date and time stamp in the image metadata can bederived from the systems clock in the CPU 502 or possibly also from theGPS receiver 507.

In a next step 604, the process 600 checks in the device calendar 505 todetermine if there is any prerecorded calendar event with a locationand/or date and time data matching the metadata assigned to the JPEGimage stored in the previously described step 603. When true, then in afollowing step 605 the last recorded and saved JPEG image is also linkedto this matching calendar event. For example, if the user of awheel-chair-mounted mobile device 500 was being visited by his sisterand at the time of taking the first picture the device's GPS locationand time determination matched the date and time as well as the locationof a family visit episode recorded that was scheduled in the user'smobile device calendar 505, then the last recorded image is linked tothis family visit episode.

By one approach an error range can be established for use when makingthis determination. This error range can depend on any number offactors, including but not limited to the GPS sensory error, the sizeand/or relative complexity of the facility where the predetermined,anticipated episode is taking place, the type of event, who isparticipating at the event, and so forth. By one approach, for example,a given item of recorded content can be associated with metadata thatlinks the recorded content to more than only one possible candidateepisode. It would also be possible to include one or more weightingfactors in the metadata and/or the link in order to indicate a relativedegree of confidence regarding the likelihood that a given particularitem of stored content in fact corresponds to a given time, place,episode, person, or the like.

When this process 600 does not find a matching event in the calendar forthe last recorded image, the process 600 then proceeds to step 609 towait for the completion of the current sampling period before capturingthe next image to record in JPEG format in the log memory of the mobiledevice 500. Steps 602 through 604 (along with the steps that pertain todetermining completion of the current sampling period) are repeateduntil a matching calendar event is found.

In the mean-time, the captured pictures are recorded and retained asJPEG images in the device memory 504, but are not linked to any calendarevent. How long such “dangling” image sequences are retained in thedevice's memory 504 can depend on a number of factors, including but notlimited to: the memory capacity of the device 500; whether the device500 has wired or wireless connections to remote external storage (suchas, for example, a wheel-chair-mounted external storage module); whetherthe solution is equipped to store and retrieve content not explicitlymatched with calendar registered events; and/or whether the solution isequipped with content mining functionality of recognizing contentsemantics, such as type of events, persons in the image, and so forth,to note but a few examples in this regard. Decisions regarding handlingof these dangling content sequences can thus also be driven by policiesprovisioned on the device 500 at the time of configuring the system.

In steps 605 through 608, the saved image is linked to all signifyingattributes of the matching calendar event, including but not limited toan identifier (ID) (or identifiers) or event index that uniquelyidentifies the episode itself and optionally, other attributes of theepisode. These optional, other attributes may include the subject of theepisode (for example, “family visit), identifiers for persons associatedwith the event (for example, the name of a visiting sister), otheroptional keywords or attributes (such as, for example, “birthday” or“medical appointment”), one or more recurring attributes (such as, forexample, “every other Sunday afternoon”), and so forth.

Event attributes may not have to be explicitly recorded with theretained image as separate metadata information, since the calendarevent record itself is likely to have them already. By doing so however,the implementation could likely support more efficient search techniquesat retrieval time, and may utilize parameters that are easily determinedat the time of the episode but not later necessarily at a subsequenttime when searching is required.

While the voice and sound were continuously being recorded and the lastcaptured image was analyzed for event match and recorded in the eventcontent storage, at step 609 the device 500 waits for the completion ofa 20 second period (or a similar, preconfigured, length of period oftime having a duration of choice) before capturing a next JPEG image ofwhat the user of the device 500 sees.

At step 510, the process 600 determines if the currently captured imagecomprises the last image associated with the matching selected event.For example, if the duration of the event is marked as 30 minutes in thecalendar and this was the 90th captured image when using 20 secondintervals, the conclusion of the completed event can be reasonablyascertained.

Those skilled in the art can apply modifications and improvements hereby setting up specific configuration policies for employing more complexdecision-making criteria to terminate the event-related contentcapturing. Such policies may include factors such as explicit manualinput to terminate the event by using tactile or touch-screen buttons onthe device 500 or somewhere else on the wheel-chair, using manual remotecontrol buttons, the distance in time and location of the next eventrecorded in the calendar, the use of pattern recognition algorithms toanalyze the captured content (such as scene change detection algorithms,or algorithms detecting changes in the number and/or identities of thepeople attending the event), and so forth, to note but a few relevantexamples in this regard.

If in step 610 the process 600 determines that more images areanticipated to match the current event, the process 600 returns to step602 to facilitate capturing and linking the next image of the episode.Otherwise, the process 600 concludes that the content capturing part ofthe current calendar event has been completed and hence begins aso-called “Post-Event Recap” function.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the Post-Event Recap process 700 begins withStep 701 where the NETD (Next Event Time Distance) is calculated. Forexample, if the last family visit event ended at 3:30 PM (which is alsothe current time) and the calendar indicates a scheduled 4:15 PMdoctor's visit appointment event, the NETD value is 45 minutes(calculated in this example by subtracting the current time of 3:30 PMfrom the doctor's visit event start of 4:15 PM).

Next, in step 702, a CRF (“Context Recurrence Factor”) value iscalculated. First, recurrent events are located and linked to the lastcompleted and recorded episode. The factors used for locating recurrentevents can be the same factors that are used for tagging the recordedexperience content entities, including but not limited to location data,time and date, episode subject, and event participants. Recurring eventlinkage policies are used as functions of these factors for locating theevents to be linked to the just completed and now being recapped event.

It may be noted that events can also be later stored in the calendarafter the current event is completed and recapped. In such a case, newlyinserted events can be retroactively included in the recurrence linkagelist using the same policies as were used for linking recurrent eventsalready in the calendar at the time of completion of the episode to berecapped. In case such latent recurrent events are introduced to thecalendar, the CRF value determined here may also require updating toreflect the additional complexities introduced by involving a newrecurrent event.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the CRF value signifies thelevel of complexities involved in verifying if all necessary contentcomponents of a last completed episode have been sufficiently andcorrectly retained in the user's long term memory in order to permitlikely reuse of those memories in future, related episodes that can bequalified as recurrent events. One simple way of determining what thesefuture recurrent events are and how many such events are expected (andwith what frequency) is to use the “recurrence” attribute of the lastcompleted event as recorded in the mobile device 500. For those skilledin the art, other, more indirect methods would include “event-contentmining” algorithms that look for future event definitions withattributes similar to the completed event.

The attributes of the last completed “reference” event can be explicitlyassigned to the last event in the calendar or these can also bediscovered by “pattern matching” content mining algorithms analyzing thecaptured content in optional relations to the event attributes recordedin the calendar.

There are several component factors related to the completed episodethat can impact the complexity measure factor CRF. These include, butare not limited to, the number and complexity of the attributes of thecompleted event, the length of the completed event, variations in thecaptured content associated with the completed event, and so forth. Thehigher these component factor values are, the higher the value thatassigned as the CRF value.

The CRF value can also depend on the complexities of the associatedrecurrent events. The more of these recurrent events there are, thehigher the corresponding CRF value. The complexities of the recurrentevents and the anticipated content and attribute overlap between thecompleted and the recurrent anticipated events can also serve toincrease the value of the CRF.

By one approach, the CRF value is calculated following policies that aredetermined prior to provisioning the device 500 for a specificapplication context, which can depend, for example, on the physicaland/or mental condition of the user, the personality and/or interests ofthe user, on the specifics of the services provided by a care-giver andon the equipment, processes and services of the care-giver facility, andso forth.

As illustrated, the CRF value is employed in step 703 to determinewhether sufficient time is available (as represented by the NETD value)to effect a useful post event recapping process. This can comprise, forexample, mapping the CRF value into a range of time periods needed forthe content recapture process to be conducted with the user as itrelates to the completed event and to the anticipated recurring events.One reason for applying a range of durations of the recapture process asversus only a single duration value is the difference in the degree ofthe recapture fidelity that can be achieved in the subsequent steps ofthe recapture process 704 through 709. In particular, the morecomprehensive the content recapture process (with respect to substantivedetails and in terms of coverage), the longer it will likely take toeffectively re-expose the individual to this information in a usefulmanner.

The minimum required duration value represents a recapture process thatwould be usefully required for making a positive impact on improving thelong term memories as pertain to the completed episode experience. Themaximum duration, in turn, represents a level of details and coverage ofthe captured content of the last completed episode that would notfeasibly require or benefit from further increase (because furtherincreasing available time would not significantly contribute to anyfurther memorization improvements). Such a saturation level may beattributed to the semantical richness of the captured content in and ofitself and/or to one or more personal limits as pertain the users.Examples in this regard might include a quantity of material thatexceeds a cognitive overload threshold for the individual that can notbe overcome without, for example, some significant rest period for theindividual. Repeated post-event recap strategies with breaks and otherintervening events are also feasible and can be routinely applied bythose with skills in the art based on these teachings.

If the minimum duration of the anticipated recapture process associatedwith the CRF value is less than the previously determine NETD timedistance value, then the time remaining to the next episode isdetermined at step 703 to be not sufficient to conduct any meaningfulcontent recapture. In this case, the actual post-event recap processcore can be terminated and this process 700 can automatically conclude.

When the calculated NETD duration is sufficient, however, to conduct ameaningful recapture process, the process 700 proceeds to step 704 whereredundant JPEG images and voice gaps are filtered. In this step, animage comparison algorithm first determines if the difference betweentwo consecutive images is bigger than a specific statistical thresholdvalue. If not, the two adjacent images are considered similar enough andthe second one is a candidate to be filtered out. Before removing theimage, however, the voice track can be checked to determine if there wasany significant voice track traffic while the second image wascapturing.

If no significant differences were detected between the two images andno significant voice traffic spans the two images, then the second imageis filtered out in this illustrative example. When there is significantvoice track traffic corresponding to the first image was recorded,however, the first image display duration can be adjusted in thefiltered content to last at least until the voice track traffic issignificant or until a significantly different subsequent image isencountered, whichever occurs first. While the algorithm described hereis programmatic, manual adjustments in the filtering-editing process canalso be accommodated using a multimedia editing user interface as isknown in the art.

In steps 705 and 706, the filtered content is replayed to the subjectwhile requesting feedback on the observations, reactions, and/orresponses of the subject. The feedback can solicit, for example,identifications of persons and subjects of presented multimedia content.Since the metadata associated with the recorded and the replayed contentcontains corresponding personal and subject identifiers, this process700, in step 706, can rate or otherwise qualify or metricize theaccuracy of the provided feedback. This rating is then evaluated at step707 following re-exposure of the subject to the selected record of theepisode.

In this evaluation step, when the evaluation function determines thatthe subject's ability to recollect a satisfactory quantity and/orquality of details, step 711 provides for archiving the captured eventcontent along with the records of re-exposing the subject to thefiltered content (which can include, for example, the records of thecorresponding and evaluated responses of the subject). The subject'sresponses can be stored in textual form, in the form of abstractedresponse notations, in the form of the multimedia records of theresponses themselves, or as the combination of several of these forms.

This archive can later be reused as described below when refreshing thesubject's memory immediately prior to future calendar events that werelinked to the evaluated event using the matching calendar data in step702.

If in step 707 the process 700 determines that the subject was not ableto demonstrate a sufficient level of success with respect to recallingthe re-exposed content, the script for replaying the content and forrequesting identification feedback and for evaluating the response canbe automatically modified at step 708. By one approach this modificationcan serve to make the identification easier for the subject. This cancomprise, for example, providing more cues, more repetitions, and/ormore time to recollect between subsequent portions of the replayedcontent. A new script might even rearrange the portions of the eventcontent stream such that related persons, subject fragments, and soforth are grouped in a manner that can assist with facilitatingrecollection through association.

This content modification function can be accomplished through use ofprogrammed heuristics, manually, or by a combination of manual andprogrammatic heuristics where the programmatic functions assist themanual steps with respect to composing the new sequence of presentationsand response solicitations. In step 709 the feasibility of the newscript is evaluated. If this inquiry reveals that even in the case ofthe best possible responses by the subject the convergence factor ofrecollections are not high enough to reliably permit recognizing theimmediate post-event recollections, in which case this content/script isarguably not worth archiving for the purpose of future pre-event recapsfor related future events, the process 700 proceeds to step 710, whichessentially serves to skip the event content recap archiving step 711.After performing step 710, the content capturing and replaying resultsfor this particular episode are not retained for use with futurepre-event recaps.

Otherwise, in steps 705 through 707, the replay, feedback solicitationand evaluations steps are repeated according to the new and easierscript. This iterative process continues until a recollection process isevaluated in step 707 as being successful. In this case, the process 700proceeds to step 711 where the content captured during the episode andduring the post-event recap process is archived for the purpose offuture reuse as disclosed below.

Referring now to FIG. 8, in step 801 of the pre-event recap process 800,the device 500 selects the next event on the primary device user'scalendar and determines whether there is sufficient time for completingthe pre-event recap process before the scheduled start of the event. Forthis purpose, the NETD factor is calculated in a manner similar to thepost-event recap initial steps described above. From the locatedcalendar event description, in step 802, the process 800 retrieves theparameters of this event. This can include, but is not limited to, theevent subject, the event recurrence identifier, and the identifiers ofthe persons who are also scheduled to participate in the event.

In step 803, the process 800 determines what other previous events arelinked to this next event. These links were established in the processof conducting the post event content recap 700 (at step 702), when therecurrent events matching the just-completed event were determined inorder to calculate the CRF value of the completed event. At step 804,the CRF value of each previously linked event is adjusted to reflect thecontext proximity of that event to the next event of the calendar. Then,the previously linked event with the maximum CRF value is selected,because this is a previous, related event having corresponding capturedcontent that appears to be most useful to recap the context of theupcoming event based on the logged experiences of the previous events.

Those skilled in the art can apply variation of this solution, such thatthe pre-event recap process can also be accomplished by combining thelogged content of several previously experienced and related events. Forsimplicity, this illustrative example provides for selecting only one ofthese events that has the maximum adjusted CRF value.

In step 805, the process 800 determines whether there is enough timebefore the start of the next event to conduct a meaningful pre-eventrecap process by comparing the NETD and the selected maximum previousevent CRF value. This is similar to the sufficient time determinationfor the post-event recap process as shown in step 703 above. If there isnot enough time to do a successful pre-event recap, the process 800automatically determines at step 813 whether participation in theupcoming event is recommended for this individual. When true, thisprocess 800 recommends that the individual proceed to the next event andthe device 500 then continues with the event content capturing process600 described above.

These teachings will optionally accommodate having the device 500 applyone or more policies to make this determination regarding whetherparticipation in the upcoming event should take place after a failedpre-event recap. This policy can weigh a variety of factors includingsuch things as the potential negative psychological (or other) impact onthe subject, the burden or impact on other participants of the plannedevent, on the cost of the event and/or future events, and so forth.

These teachings will also accommodate, if desired, using other, lowerrated event materials under circumstances. For example, if there is notsufficient time left until the next event for the pre-event recapprocess when using the selected maximum previous, related event CRFvalue, the process 800 can consider using instead another relatedprevious event having, for example, the second largest CRF value. Theprocess 800 can then check again to determine if the corresponding timefor the pre-event recap is now sufficient or not. This iterative processof trying to find an appropriate, previous related event can continueuntil a previous related event is found that has a low enough CRF valueas will correspond to a short enough pre-event recap process time whilestill enabling a sufficiently positive content retention reinforcementimpact. In this illustrative example, however, the solution is based onthe approach of taking the previous related event with the maximum CRFvalue and then iteratively simplifying the interview script until thepre-event recap process is short enough while the short-term contentretention reinforcement impact remains positive enough.

When there is sufficient time to conduct a satisfactory pre-event recap,at step 806 the process 800 retrieves the archived content of thepreviously linked event selected for its maximum CRF factor. In steps807 through 811 the recap process is executed in a manner that issimilar to the equivalent recap steps described above for the post-eventrecap process steps 705 through 709. If at step 809 the process 800detects a successful completion of the pre-event recap process, itproceeds to step 814 to archive the pre-event recap content log and toproceed to the participation and event content capture process 600 forthe upcoming event.

If at step 811 the process 800 determines that the pre-event recapprocess is not converging to a successful completion, the process 800terminates the pre-event recap process. At step 812 the process 800 thenprovides for archiving the failed pre-event recap process content logfor potential future analysis.

At step 813, the process 800 determines whether there is a sufficientexpectation of benefit should the individual proceed to the upcomingevent. These teachings will readily accommodate applying one or morepolicies to determine if participation in the event should take placeafter a failed pre-event recap. Such a policy can again weigh severalfactors to facilitate the making of such a determination, such as thepotential negative impact on the subject, the impact on otherparticipants of the planned event, the cost of the event, and so forth.

When the transition to the next event is not required, this process 800exits without initiating the recording process for the next eventparticipation. The process can also provide for outputing a message tothe device user(s) to indicate that participation is not recommended.Otherwise, the process 800 can proceed to step 815 to begin the nextevent participation with event content capturing as described above withrespect to FIG. 6.

In the illustrative example provided above, a single integrated platform(the mobile device (500) performs all of the described steps, actions,and functions. Those skilled in the art will recognize that otherpossibilities are available in this regard. This can include, forexample, distributing some of the described functions across the mobiledevice and other processing platforms that are available through thenetwork of a wireless infrastructure.

By one approach, such a distribution of functionality can include theimplementation of such functions in a wearable Bluetooth network,wherein the video capture platform 402, the audio capture platform 401,the display 302, the user input device 301 and the rest of the hardwareincluding the processor 201, the memory 202, the location determinationunit 206 and the clock 203 reside in physically separate devices aroundthe body of the subject.

By another approach, if desired, the processor 201 and/or the memory 202has connected, remotely centralized and higher capacity extensions. Theremote processor extension can facilitate the execution of highlycomputationally intensive correlation analysis and pattern recognitionfunctionality for calculating the CRF factors, for applying heuristicsto determine termination conditions in the iterative re-cap dialogs,and/or to determine the feasibility of proceeding to the subject'sattendance at the next, recurrent calendar event.

The remote location and/or extension of the end user interface functiondevices can facilitate the support of the long-term recollectionencouragement process by live caretaker personnel if desired.

Regardless of whether the interviewing function is located remotely ornot, live caretaker personnel can take part in the interviewing processby complementing or by entirely substituting for one or more of stepsdescribed at steps 704 through 709.

So configured, those skilled in the art will recognize and appreciatethat these teachings provide a powerful and effective way to facilitatethe useful retention of experiential recollections by people whootherwise experience considerable challenges in these regards. Theseteachings are readily employed in conjunction with commonly availabletechnologies in a manner that can successfully leverage their individualcontributions in efficient and useful ways. It will also be appreciatedthat these teachings can be deployed in a highly automated manner,thereby freeing caregivers to use their time in other ways that arehelpful to the individuals receiving the benefits of these teachings.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety ofmodifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect tothe above described embodiments without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept. One such modification may comprise various ways of automatingthe recap interview process by applying voice recognition user interfacetechnologies in combination with or instead of user interface buttons onthe mobile device or by employing text-to-speech technologies in thesteps of communicating to the primary device user. Another example of amodification would comprise the employment of artificial intelligencedialog systems. As yet another example, automated dialog scripts andrules, termination condition determination rules in the dialog process,and transition gating rules relating to the subsequent, recurrent eventafter the re-cap dialog can be further customized for better efficiencybased on a persona model of the interviewed subject patient as describedabove. By one approach, the persona model can be introduced manually bysubject matter expert professionals. As another approach in this regard,the persona model can be built by employing automated personalityprofiling techniques. Such personality profiling can also beaccomplished by analyzing the multimedia personal experience contentcaptured by the same mobile device through which the interviewingprocess is conducted.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus for use with an individual who faces long termmemory challenges comprising: a memory having stored therein: a recordof experiential content to which the individual was previously exposedduring each of a plurality of given episodes; and metadata correspondingto at least one of the individual and corresponding ones of theplurality of given episodes; an end user interface; a processor operablycoupled to the memory and the end user interface, and being configuredand arranged to: re-expose the individual, via the end user interface,to a particular one of the plurality of given episodes; receivingfeedback from the individual regarding at least one subject of theparticular one of the plurality of the given episodes while re-exposingthe individual to the particular one of the plurality of given episodes;assessing accuracy of the feedback as a function of the metadata tometricize the accuracy of the feedback to provide metricized accuracy ofthe feedback; evaluating the individual's long term memory as afunction, at least in part, of the metricized accuracy of the feedback.2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the metadata comprises locationinformation.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the metadata comprisesmedical sensory information corresponding to the individual.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3 wherein the medical sensory information comprisesat least one of: heart rate information; blood pressure information;perspiration information; blood sugar level information.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the metadata comprises calendar-basedinformation.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the calendar-basedinformation comprises a scheduled appointment.
 7. The apparatus of claim6 wherein the scheduled appointment comprises a doctor's appointment forthe individual.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the metadataincludes metadata from an experience capture device that provides theexperiential content.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein theexperiential content comprises audio content.
 10. The apparatus of claim1 wherein the experiential content comprises visual content.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the experiential content comprisesautomatically-captured experiential content.